page_title: Provençal quilts
section_title: History (pre-17th century)
hierarchical_section_title: Provençal quilts / History (pre-17th century)
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the 14th century Tristan Quilt on display at the V&amp;A Museum.
context_page_description: The term Provençal quilting, also known as boutis, refers to the wholecloth quilts done using a stuffing technique traditionally made in the South of France from the 17th century onwards. Boutis is a Provençal word meaning 'stuffing', describing how two layers of fabric are quilted together with stuffing sandwiched between sections of the design, creating a raised effect. The three main forms of the Provençal quilt are matelassage, piqûre de Marseilles, and boutis. These terms, along with trapunto are often debated and confused, but they are all forms of stuffed quilting associated with the region.
context_section_description: Stuffed quilting, or trapunto, was known in Sicily as early as the 13th century. One of the earliest surviving examples of trapunto quilting is the 1360-1400 Tristan Quilt, a Sicilian quilted linen textile surviving as two fragments, representing scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde; one part of which is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the other in the Bargello in Florence.
caption: Detail of the Tristan Quilt
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2048", "Image ImageLength": "1152", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "SM-N9005", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "N9005XXUGNG1", "Image DateTime": "2014:11:05 13:21:14", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "226", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:11:05 13:21:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:11:05 13:21:14", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "57/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF FocalLength": "413/100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1152", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Night"}